Character Traits of 12 More Ancestors

Character Traits of 12 more Ancestors

Because I am on a roll, here are 12 additional character trails of 12 more ancestors.  Details about these family members can be found in other blog entries as well.

Service-John Griffiths
For fifteen years John Griffiths walked all over Lancashire County, England spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He was the President of the Rose Park Branch for 15 years.  Then the PEF (Perpetual Emigration) Funds became available and they moved with many in the branch to become part of the Martin Handcart Company.  He lost his two sons on the trek and died the day after arriving in Salt Lake Valley.  His two daughters survived him, both faithful to the end. 

Education-Max Leslie Weiss
Max grew up in a home where education was important.  He did well in high school and went to college first at Princeton, graduating in Math Science.  He obtained his Master's Degree at Cornell. He did further graduate work at Reed College in Portland, Oregon and then received his Doctorate at the University of Washington.  He worked at the University of California at Santa Barbara for many years as an outstanding math professor and as Provost. 

Activism-Ralph Eugene Owen
Alcoholism had destroyed the family of Walter Bruce Owen. Ralph had to protect his mother from his alcoholic father.  His mother eventually divorced her abusive husband in 1909 because of "the bottle."  As a direct result of observing his father's addiction, Ralph joined the Anti-Saloon League and went around the country trying to teach about the evils of alcoholism.  


Sacrifice-Reva Maxine Moulton Owen Webb
She instantly became a "nurse" when her 31 year old husband had polio. Maxine would travel by bus to the Veterans Hospital to feed her husband while he was in an iron lung.   She worked to help him through Chiropractic School in Portland.  She later became the office manager and insurance biller during the days at Willamette View Chiropractic Center.  She was the legal transcript composer and always supported her husband in his "freedom fight".  She was the unofficial general contractor of building a home in Leeds, Utah.  She returned to her role of nurse and ran the dialysis machine in Leeds.  She acted as an editor to help her second husband publish his writings.  She brought into the world nine children who honor her for her many sacrifices during her 93 years on earth.  

Hope-Marilyn Ballegooie Weiss
Marilyn was clinging to "hope" for many years.  She raised her family with good values.  She supported her husband as he grew his business.  After 40 years of marriage, her divorce caused her to look to her own spiritual growth.  She prepared to receive her endowments in the Portland Temple.  She served faithfully in the Relief Society.  She always hoped for greater happiness and contentment. 

Teaching-James A. Owen
Jim frequently found himself as "the teacher".  He taught in the Army Radio school during WWII.  He taught seminary for 3 1/2 years in Burley, Idaho.  He taught as a Stake missionary in two different stakes.   Frequently he was called to teach the Gospel Doctrine classes.  He loved to teach the nine children in his family and besides regular Family Home Evenings, he held special "Ask Gospel Questions" sessions with his children on Sunday afternoons.

Desire to Learn-Clarissa Dean Chase Weiss
Claire was married at 18 years of age.  She was always a great student and extremely well read in the classics.  She loved discussing philosophy and took great pride in her ancestry, especially being related to one of the Mayflower Pilgrims (John Alden) and the early LDS pioneers of 1847 (Isaac & Phebe Chase).  She encouraged her three children in their pursuits:  her daughter who became a school teacher, her first son who became an inventor and businessman, and her youngest son in his academic pursuits.  

Hard Work-Ida Ellen Fish Owen
Ida was left as a widow in 1938 after being married to her husband, Ralph, for 19 years.  She started a boarding house for students and later worked as a cook at the Weslyan University to support her family.  She moved from Nebraska to Oregon to be closer to her two children. 


Cheerfulness-David Simon Weiss
Dave was a great salesman because people liked being around him.  His native cheerfulness made people happy.   He enjoyed playing with his grandchildren.  He enjoyed sailing, flying, and restoring his 1941 Packard.  His playful personality endeared many to him and he was well respected in the RV Industry and among those he worked with the in the Boy Scouts of America.  
 
Spiritual-Annie Wahrhaftig Weiss
Hannah (Annie) was a devout Jew.  As an Orthodox Jew, she found it difficult to live on the frontier away from a synagogue.  When she came to America, she was uncomfortable until she lived in the City of the Great Salt Lake and could attend the newly built Montefiore synagogue during the High Holy Days. Her husband worked in Vernal and commuted by train to his home in Salt Lake City. 

Being a Helpmeet-Hannah Eastman Clegg
Hannah was the mother of two sons.  In faith she crossed the ocean with her husband, Henry Clegg and anticipated the joyful day when she would gather with the Saints in Utah.  Unfortunately, her journey ended near Mormon Grove in Kansas where she died of cholera.  Her young son was buried in her arms. 


Devotion to God-Phebe Owen Fish
Phebe was one of the founding members in the Liberty Church in Norman, Indiana.
She loved singing from the old Methodist hymnal and did until her death.  She was a gardener and kept a lovely garden. She was loved and respected by her neighbors and family.

Owen Family Heirlooms: the Lamp, the Bowl, and the Quilt

heir·loom

noun \ˈer-ˌlüm\ : a valuable object that is owned by a family for many years and passed from one generation to another

I only have a few "heirlooms" from the Owen Family. It is tangible evidence that real people I know mostly from pictures once lived.   I keep most of my heirlooms in an oversized trunk I once bought at Goodwill.  Some heirlooms are a bit harder to keep than others.

1929 photo of the Owen Family.  James in the middle with his mother, Ida, in the back.  Velma, Delcie, and Harold are pictured, but Ancil is missing.

The oil hurricane lamp was passed down through the Owen descendants.  I believe it was used by the Fish family.  It is easily over 100 years old.  I move it from my living room when the quadcopters are being flown at Christmas!  We forget that it wasn't that long ago and this was the only source of light for our ancestors.   Imagine reading and studying by the light of this lamp.  Maybe we'll try it out one of these days.

Oil Lamp from the Owen-Fish family

This bowl is from a set of dishes that once belonged to Ida Ellen Fish Owen.

Bowl that belonged to the Ralph and Ida Owen family

Ida Ellen was my grandmother and she died when I was nine years old.  She seemed a quiet woman and I really don't have many memories about her.  I know she was a great cook and supported her family as a single mom working in the kitchen at a nearby college in Lincoln, Nebraska.   She would often invite others to dinner.

Ida Ellen Fish Owen  (October 16, 1885-September 12, 1961).  This photo was taken at James Owen's wedding in 1948.

My father (James Owen) was attending Chiropractic School in Portland, Oregon and he talked his mother, Ida, into moving from Nebraska to the Northwest where two of her children then lived.  She was there from about 1955-1961.  I remember enjoying Thanksgiving at her home when we lived in Portland.  I think I "remember" that because we have pictures of that time with her. 

1957 Thanksgiving at Grandma Owen's house. Steven Owen is the baby.

This shell and the glass bowl were among the items Delcie Owen O'Grady (Ida's daughter) gave to Diane Portnoy and I when we went to visit her Nebraska in 1993.

Note the July 1909 written in pencil inside the shell.

I had a note from Delcie that said, "French Lick, Indiana"  and she said she really didn't know the story behind this keepsake.  I imagine the shell was found at a gift shop in French Lick, Indiana when Ida's future husband, Ralph Eugene Owen, proposed to her and so she saved this shell.   We don't really know, but we can see the July 1909 penciled inside.  Maybe it was something Ralph kept and it ended up in the Owen cedar chest (in Diane's possession). We do know that Ralph and Ida Owen were married on August 21, 1909 in Jackson, Indiana.

This quilt top was a crazy quilt patchwork made from clothes the Owen family no longer used.  Note the wool pieces that were possibly from men's suit scraps.  Maybe they were from clothing once worn by Ralph Eugene Owen.  Ralph died in 1928 and as the Owen family lived through the depression.  I'm sure they would "reduce, reuse, and recycle" just like we should today.   Putting this quilt top together (probably in the 1930's) likely brought back memories of Ida's happy years with Ralph and her five children. It has moved with me from Redmond, WA to Vancouver, WA to Logan, UT always calling for me to repair it.

This summer the Ida Owen granddaughters will redo the backing and restore this 1930's quilt to a better state.

Ralph and Ida Owen were on a business trip/retreat in Scottsbluff, Nebraska celebrating almost 20 years of marriage when he went fishing, was chilled, got fevered, and died from pneumonia on July 20, 1928.  His death left Ida a widow for 33 years.  

We still have lots of research to do to find out more about our OWEN lines.  I feel blessed that we have the histories of three of the children (Delcie, Velma, and James).  It seems that "touching" these "real" items reminds me of my heritage in a different way.  They were real living, breathing people with hopes and dreams and lamps and bowls and quilts.  I am grateful to know that the Owens were a God-fearing people and taught us of the Master by word and by example.

Early Life of James A. Owen

The Early Life of James A. Owen   (Birth to age 12)

This week I re-read James A. Owen’s personal history written in May 1976 while he lived in Leeds, UT.   (Maxine Owen was away caring for me and my first born, Allison Lauree in Provo, UT.) As I re-read this history I thought it would be good to share portions of his 16-page document with the family.

Ralph Eugene Owen, Jim’s father, died when he was only a seven and a half year old boy.  James was the youngest of five children (ages 7 to 18) when Ida Ellen Owen became a single mom in 1928.

The Ralph and Ida Owen Family in 1925.

Jim loved his widowed mother and had a special relationship with his “Angel Mother”.  “My mother (Ida Ellen Fish Owen) often spoke of her own father (Isaac Fish) saying, 'We were not the richest people in Brown County (Indiana) but we were known as the most honest.'"

Ida Fish Owen would never even say the word “lie” as it was a vulgar, dirty word.  She would never even tell a white lie for a joke on someone.  James wrote of his mother: “When she’d feel that I was joking or kidding and telling a falsehood for fun, she’d just say to me, ‘James, you’re storying!’”

James was born in Dorans, Illinois (“a small, lightly wide place in the road with only a small store”) on Feb. 7, 1921.  His father (Ralph Eugene Owen) was a teacher and a dairy farmer.  Ralph and Ida had moved to Dorans to work for a wealthy farmer named Farrah and lived there for 3 years before moving to Humboldt, Illinois.

Ralph was a lay minister at the Humboldt United Methodist Church.  He would preach the sermon 2-3 times a month while the circuit-riding minster would be there on alternating Sundays or maybe just one week in four.  Jim writes of his father, “He was a man of strong moral conviction with a strong testimony of the reality of God.”  (It appears this same United Methodist Church is still used today and is located at 419 Jefferson St., Humboldt, Illinois.)

Humboldt was a small town with about 300 people “centered on the school and the church.”   The Owen family  “lived in a nice house on a corner of a city block with a wooden fence in front and lots of shrubs around it.”  They were across the street from the four main lines of (railroad) tracks going to Chicago (about 165 miles to the north).  James loved watching the trains.

Train tracks were across from the Owen home in Humboldt.

Nearby was the Carpenter’s drug store that “had a large wooden Indian Chief as a cigar advertisement.  Oh, he always scared me.”

The scary wooden Indian selling cigars.

“My dad (Ralph E. Owen) always said that no one should ever be turned away from our door hungry.  We had many so-called 'bums' because of the railroad.  They would ride the empty freight cars.  When Dad was home, the bums were invited in to our (kitchen) table to eat. When Dad was not home, Mom was instructed not to let anyone in and to keep the door locked at night.  If 'bums' came during the day and the family was home, then Mom often fed them in the breezeway off of the kitchen.”  (James was told this story by his older sisters as he was too young to remember.)

When he was a small boy of four years, the Owen family came home from church one Sunday and Ida tried to put James down for an afternoon nap.  It was a very hot day, so he sat down by the upstairs window.  His mom had warned him about leaning back on the screen.   “I should have listened to Mom,” he thought as he fell the fourteen feet into a bush below.   James lived to tell the story but a piece of glass cut his scalp and he was frightened.  He wrote, “This started a series of events in my life that showed me that if I would listen and try, then God would place a protective shield around me to protect and extend my life so that the purpose of mortality might be fulfilled.”

This is an actual photo of the Owen's Model T loaded up for the move in 1926.

When he was five years old, the family was transferred to Lincoln, Nebraska.   The town of Humboldt gave them going away parties and there were many sad goodbyes as they joked that the Owen family was moving to the “Wild West”.   Ralph’s youngest sister, Ina, was especially sad to see her brother leave town.  

On the way to Nebraska, the family would stop at tourist cabins.  It took 2-3 days and was about a 500 mile trip on very 1926 rough roads. 

Similar to a tourist cabin of the 1920's.

On the long trip, James remembers being in a large city getting groceries.  He was across the street from his family and ran to catch up with them. “This was a busy street with much traffic and streetcar tracks down the middle of the street.  Not heeding the traffic…I darted for the safety of (my family).  I made it across the traffic lane…only then to have that ever-present guardian angel again provide that invisible but real shield of protection around me.  I tripped on the streetcar tracks and went sprawling face down…a speeding car missed me by a few inches.  The next thing I recall was being in the bosom of my lovely Angel Mother (Ida Fish Owen) assuring me that all was well.”

The next two years in Lincoln, Nebraska were happy ones.   Their new home was in College View, a suburb of Lincoln where a Seventh-day Adventist College (now Union College) is located.  The home was located at 368 L Street and  had two bedrooms, an unfinished upstairs and a full basement.

On Sunday mornings Jim would run and jump in bed with his parents and his dad would read the Sunday funnies to him.  Then they would go to Sunday School and church.  Afterwards, Sunday dinners were always extra nice (silverware, goblets, desserts) and often with company.  Ralph especially enjoyed loved corn on the cob.  

James Owen in Kindergarten

When attending church, if any of the five children were unruly, Ralph would simply raise his eyebrows and the kids would straighten up.  One Easter Sunday, Jim was to recite the 23^rd Psalm.  He was six years old.  “Boy, I knew it was going to be a big day in my life.  Sunday morning I awakened and didn’t feel well.  I went down to see Mom and Dad and they said my face was swollen.  Mumps.”    

When Jim was a second grader he missed two weeks of school with the “croup”.  “The Doctor said my tonsils should come out, so out they came.  It was great as I got to be put in Mom’s special “guest room” and had visitors.”   His Sunday School teacher came and gave him a movie ticket.  “As a group, she was going to take the class to the great silent picture “King of Kings” and I was sick, so she came over and gave me a special card and some money on a ticket that I might go to it later.  So I told my friends and they dubbed me “Mrs. Gregg’s Little Angel.  Just thought you would all like to know of that incontestable historical fact.”

"Angel" James in grade school

In those days, people left their cars in the driveways, keys and all.  One day six-year old James and his neighbor friend got in the Model T to make believe they were driving all over the world.  Then they pretended to be “stuck” and the neighbor boy got out and was “pushing”.  Jim turned on the key, pushed in the clutch and his friend really pushed.  Jim started down the incline without any knowledge of how to stop the car.  He then took his foot off the clutch and the car started!  The car (guided by Jim’s “Guardian Angel”) steered into a cinder pile about 30-40 feet down the road and the 18 horsepower engine stopped.  Luckily, there was no damage to the car.

Typical of Model T in 1920's

The new Model T was Ralph’s pride and joy.  Little James knew he was in trouble.  He streaked straight to his bed and hid under the covers awaiting discovery and then punishment.  When Ralph returned home, Jim's brothers and sisters let their parents know what had happened.  Ralph said, “Where’s James?”   “In bed, hiding”.  Jim wrote:  “I remember his quick steps up those stairs as I awaited the decision of the earthly Judge.  Apparently when he saw that little scared six-year old sobbing his heart out for fear of what might have happened, my Dad, was just like my Heavenly Dad who knew the price had already been paid and he put his strong arm around me and held me close and I sighed and cried with joy for my “two Dad’s understood and forgave me.”

Typical Indian Costume of 1920's

James remembers: “My Dad bought my brother (Harold) and me cowboy and Indian suits which we enjoyed.  He had a picture of us that he carried in his wallet to show people his two sons that he loved so much.  I remember often running and chasing with my brother.  I felt I could run as fast as the wind because I could outrun my older brother.”

James and Harold in their cowboy costumes.

James remembers attending Kindergarten in the College View High School Building.  He loved playing in the gymnasium when it was bad weather outside. 

School James Owen attended in Lincoln, Nebraska

In the summer of 1928, Jim’s parents were going to celebrate their 20^th wedding anniversary by taking a vacation trip together in western Nebraska.  The kids were to stay home with a babysitter, Mrs. Livengood.  “I believe my brother Harold and I put on our cowboy suits to please Dad as he liked them so well.  I still remember standing on the front porch steps.  I was sad and despondent.  I don’t know how or why, all I knew was that I’d never see my Dad alive again.  It was my most unforgettable farewell.  (While they were gone) I was listless and didn’t play with much enthusiasm. (I was) just a sad little fellow in need of his Mom and his Dad.”

“On the night of the 15^th of July (1928), Mom called and said Dad was in the hospital, sick with pneumonia.  The trip was to be a combination of business and pleasure and Dad had been trout fishing, which he loved to do and did only infrequently because of the pressure of the job.  He had gotten wet and chilled and in a couple of days he was in the hospital.” 

Ralph E. Owen loved fishing.

“Then the call came that Dad was worse.  Then the call came...that day that Dad was gone.  Everybody was so kind to our family.    Mom finally got home.  I think she accompanied the body on the train.  She was just broken and never got over it.”

“The funeral was simple and nice at the Community Church in College View.  I remember where I was sitting in the church.  They said that Dad was always a friend to everyone, (that) there were no strangers (to my dad).  Even the vicious dogs were Dad’s friends.  He would just walk up and pet them.  Then I remember going to the cemetery.”

Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Following the death of their provider, the family moved to University Place, a Methodist Community built around Nebraska Wesleyan University.  Their house was conveniently one block from the campus.

James, his mother Ida, and sister Delcie outside of their home in Lincoln, Nebraska

Their home had four bedrooms and a bath upstairs.  Two bedrooms, front room, dining room and kitchen on the main floor and a 2/3^rd basement with a two car garage. 

“There was a chicken house for poultry and produce and two nice trees in the yard.  Mother had decided to run a rooming and boarding house.  We kept girls, but a few male students also.  That was the first year, then she gave it up and went to work cooking at the (Nebraska) Wesleyan college cafeteria.  She left early in the morning for her job at the cafeteria, but was home between 2:00 and 4:00 o’clock and then went back and worked until seven.  It sure helped to have her home after school.  Many nights when we were youmg, my brother (Harold) and I would go up to the campus to walk home with her or meet her part way.”

Jim writes about his memories in each of his school years, Kindergarten through 8^th grade.  “Our school was a great cross section:  college professor’s kids 1/3 of the class, 2/3 from the “home for Dependent Children (orphanage) and the last 1/3 were normal kids like me.” 

In  4^th Grade he remembers, “We did self testing drills in arithmetic.  One could work, to a degree, at one’s own speed.  In music, I may have been lacking, but in math I was on the other end of the spectrum.” 

During his 4^th grade year he also notes:  “I enjoyed the first of the month fire drills, which gave us the opportunity to get away from class for 30 minutes.  Each Christmas after practice in our individual (class)rooms and just before being dismissed for vacation, we would all gather on the stair landings of the hall and sing Christmas carols.”

While in 6^th grade he “fooled around a lot with crystal sets and had a good one.  I could get two stations  KRAB and KFOR.  I had in my room many electrical odds and ends and was always building something.”

“During my 7^th and 8^th grades, my interest in athletics grew immensely.  I was always the captain or leader and either the best or knew the best in most sports. We had fine coaches.  I remember the meticulous hours spent in gym class and after school with Coach Wyient teaching us the fundamentals of passing, shooting, zone defense, etc.”  Later Jim would become the a basketball star because of good training in his early years.

Ancil, Ida (mother), and James

Jim’s early childhood was traumatic with the loss of his father, but the care and love of older siblings made his life easier.  As his mom was a single parent, Jim really did try his best to be obedient and attentive in order to make her life easier.   

James A. Owen wrote that the reason he recorded his happy memories was so that “my children and other posterity might know of God’s gracious love toward one of His humble and grateful children.”